Cop sues 'Real Housewives' cast over bar fight

By Todd Lighty and Stacy St. Clair | Tribune reportersJune 13, 2011

"Real Housewives of New Jersey" cast members beat up and injured a Chicago-area police officer and his cousin during a brawl earlier this year at a posh Dominican resort, two lawsuits filed today allege.

Adolfo Arreola, a sworn officer with the University of Illinois at Chicago's police department, suffered a broken arm, blurred vision, cuts and bruises after some members of the cast "savagely beat, kicked, punched, scratched, jumped" on him and smashed glass on his head, according to the lawsuits. His cousin Jason A. Gomez suffered a broken leg and a torn MCL after he came to Arreola's defense.

The cousins’ lawsuits – filed in New York and Miami – allege that they and their families were dancing and socializing in a Hard Rock Hotel & Casino bar in Punta Cana on Feb. 23 when Jersey Housewife Teresa Giudice sprayed champagne on Arreola’s mother-in-law and mocked the 53-year-old woman as she tried to wipe the alcohol from her eyes.

The complaints state that after Arreola confronted Giudice, he was attacked by cast members that included her husband, Joe, and Albert and Christopher Manzo, the sons of show matriarch Caroline Manzo.

All three men have supporting roles on the popular reality show, which follows the conflict-riddled lives of five women from northern New Jersey. Since the program's debut two years ago, the cast's public melees and physical altercations have fueled gossip sites and the show's ratings in near equal measure.

The Guidices and other cast members could not be immediately reached for comment.

Bravo, the cable channel that airs the show, is named in the New York complaint, as well. Thomas Demetrio, an attorney repesenting Arreola and Gomez, has asked Bravo and the show's production company to preserve any video taken of the fight. A spokeswoman for Bravo said the network and the cast members decline to comment on the accusations.

The cousins also sued the Hard Rock Hotel's parent company in Miami alleging negligent security and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Ricardo Cata, a lawyer for the hotel's operator, said he had not seen any lawsuit but said the hotel did nothing wrong. "Our position is the hotel did everything it was supposed to do and responded appropriately and took care of the guests in the appropriate manner," Cata said.

While in the Dominican Republic, the cousins signed an agreement not to sue, but their lawyer said they did so under duress.